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T H E C H A L L E N G E
Pre-selling homes prior to development
The senior housing market has become an appealing option for the next generation of retirees. Offering older residents an opportunity to keep their independence, senior living communities provide a place to call home free of the burdens associated with owning a traditional home.
However, unlike traditional multifamily properties, CCRC senior living communities, such as the ones highlighted here, require substantial deposits from committed future residents on a large percentage of the homes before the development process can begin. That was the mission set forth for Ann Rimkus, executive vice president of media and consumer insights for The Point Group, a marketing firm working on behalf of the Kisco Senior Living. And that is not easy to do when a community is two years from becoming a physical property.
“We were bringing the Kisco Senior Living brand to market in DC, and since the community was still in the pre-development expansion, we knew that we had to build a sales center to show potential residents the various homes that would be available,” Rimkus said. “We had done this for other master-planned communities but it was our first time taking it into the senior living market.”
To garner the necessary deposits, often substantial, required to begin the building expansion and avoid any disruptions, Kisco had to find a solution that would allow future residents to fully immerse themselves in the community and explore the premium amenities, floor plans and grounds being offered.
“We wanted to showcase the campus electronically floor by floor and home by home,” Rimkus said. “To do that, we knew we couldn’t have traditional topo tables in the sales center with little trees and paper models. It had to be a multilayered digital experience showing realistic details and features of both the campus and the surrounding community. We are asking people to put down sizable deposits, and they are not going to do that unless they know the brand. Engrain allowed us to introduce Kisco to a new market as a reputable senior living brand before the communities were even constructed.”
